Now the team's players are feeling burned after being told they'll have to play the Senators as scheduled Saturday night.

Firefighters said the van was pulling into the players' parking area near the loading dock at about 2:30 p.m. when someone noticed smoke coming from the back.

The doors were opened and there was a fire "roaring pretty good," said district fire chief Monty Malloy. "It destroyed all the equipment, all the players' equipment."

The players had been practising at the Kanata Recreation Complex before the fire was sparked on the five-minute drive to Scotiabank Place.

The Wild held talks with NHL officials to see if the game could be postponed, but were informed it will go on as scheduled.

Players weren't thrilled.

"I'm picky about gloves. I've got to wear gloves for a long time before I can play in them," said forward Andrew Brunette. "My shoulder pads, I've had since bantam hockey, so if those are gone, I'll be screwed. I've worn one pair of shoulder pads forever.

"Knee pads, elbow pads, pants, those are pretty generic and easy to wear," he added. "The other stuff, not so much."

The Wild isn't sure how

the fire started, although police said it appears to be accidental.

"The back was smoky, and we opened it up, and everything was on fire," Wild equipment manager Tony DaCosta told the Minneapolis Star Tribune. "I don't know what happened. It was a five-minute drive."

Barrie Roney witnessed the fire and said it was obvious Wild personnel were upset.

"You could tell there was a bit of panic and obviously there was a little bit of anger."

He said the van was initially inside the arena, but quickly taken outside when the fire was noticed. They were trying to use a hose hooked up at the loading dock to put out the flames. Firefighters arrived five minutes later and doused the blaze.

"They were trying to extinguish the flames and salvage as much equipment as they could," Roney said.

The destroyed gear was tossed in a trash compactor.

The Wild's website said the team's assistant equipment manager was flying back to Minnesota. He and other staffers planned to collect replacement equipment to be flown here Saturday morning.

Former Senators winger Martin Havlat wasn't sure how his team could play with all new equipment, "especially the skates."

"We spend two weeks trying to break in skates," he said. "I've never heard of anything like this in my life. When I first heard about it, I thought it was some kind of a joke."

Havlat also questioned whether they should play.

"How tough is this going to be on the goalies? he asked. "They have to get comfortable in their equipment."